Fractured tablets: forgetfulness and fallibility in late ancient rabbinic culture

"This book examines the significant role that memory failures play in early rabbinic literature. The rabbis who shaped Judaism in late antiquity envisioned the commitment to the Torah and to its commandments as governing every single aspect of a person's life. Their vision of a Jewish subj...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Balberg, Mirah 1978- (Author)
Format: Print Book
Language:English
Subito Delivery Service: Order now.
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Oakland, California University of Californiarnia Press [2023]
In:Year: 2023
Reviews:[Rezension von: Balberg, Mirah, 1978-, Fractured tablets : forgetfulness and fallibility in late ancient rabbinic culture] (2024) (Fursṭenberg, Yaʾir)
Further subjects:B Rabbinical literature Criticism and interpretation
B Memory Religious aspects Judaism
Rights Information:CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Electronic
Electronic
Electronic
Electronic
Description
Summary:"This book examines the significant role that memory failures play in early rabbinic literature. The rabbis who shaped Judaism in late antiquity envisioned the commitment to the Torah and to its commandments as governing every single aspect of a person's life. Their vision of a Jewish subject who must keep constant mental track of multiple obligations and teachings led them to be very preoccupied with forgetting: forgetting of tasks, forgetting of facts, forgetting of texts, and--most broadly--forgetting the Torah altogether. In Fractured Tablets, Mira Balberg studies the ways in which the early rabbis approached and delineated the possibility of forgetfulness in practice and study and the solutions and responses they conjured for forgetfulness, along with the manners in which they used human fallibility to bolster their vision of Jewish observance and their own role as religious experts. In the process, Balberg shows that the rabbis' intense preoccupation with the prospect of forgetfulness was a meaningful ideological choice with profound implications for our understanding of Judaism in late antiquity"--
Item Description:Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN:0520391861